Ronan Maher of Tipperary pictured during an Allianz Hurling League Media Event at the Anner Hotel in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, ahead of Sunday's clash with Kilkenny.
By John Harrington
Just one win from three League matches isn’t the start that Liam Sheedy would have wanted to his second-coming as Tipperary manager, but as a bare statistic it doesn’t tell the full story.
While teams are still finding form and fitness and testing different combinations at this time of the year, attitude is the quality you put most store in and Tipperary’s has been impressive.
The harrying, hassling, and general work-ethic of their players has been of a high level, and if that remains a constant then they have a great foundation on which to build.
That being said, some results matter more than others, and Sunday’s match against Kilkenny is an important one for Tipperary even if we’re still very much in the foothills of the season.
If you’re a newly appointed Tipperary manager still putting a shape on your team and you want to build some momentum before the Championship while simultaneously energising the county’s supporters, then this is the most important match of the League.
The nature of the League Final defeat to Kilkenny last year stung Tipperary supporters, and were they to watch their team succumb to another limp defeat to their greatest of rivals it would be an early-season energy-killer.
The corollary is that if Tipperary put Kilkenny to the sword in Thurles then Sheedy’s second coming will be really up and running and both players and supporters alike will be energised.
Ronan Maher certainly doesn’t need to be reminded that a match against the Cats always means that bit more.
“Exactly, you want the backing of your public and they judge us every year on Tipp-Kilkenny,” Maher told GAA.ie “It's a great bench-mark to see where you're at.
“No better game to win to give you confidence than against Kilkenny. It's always a fierce rivalry between ourselves and Kilkenny and it'll be no different next weekend.
“You can always feel the step-up in those games and the physicality in those games is a lot bigger. It's a great opportunity for us to go out and express ourselves and see can we bounce back after the last two defeats.
“It would be great to beat them below in the stadium on Sunday evening and get the buzz going around Tipperary again.
“People in Tipperary set high standards for the team and we set high standards for ourselves but, ultimately, we haven't reached them in the last few years and we're trying to build ourselves up to reach that target again.”
Tipperary's Ronan Maher wins the ball above Kilkenny's TJ Reid in the 2016 All-Ireland SHC Final.
You could argue that this Tipperary team has never fully recovered mentally from the thrashing they were given by Galway in the 2017 Allianz Hurling League Final.
Ever since then, their confidence has never quite flowed like it did when winning the 2016 All-Ireland Championship and their traditional swagger has only been seen in spits and spurts.
Sheedy proved during his first spell as Tipperary manager when the Premier County stopped Kilkenny’s Drive for Five that getting his players to believe in themselves is something he excels at, and Maher is already appreciating that aspect of his management style.
“He's good in a lot of ways,” said Maher. “He gives players that confidence going out on the field. He's player-driven the whole time but he also leaves it up to us as well to set the standard.
“They're laying down the structure and we're driving the training sessions. We have their total backing and it's up to use to drive it on both in training and on match-days.
“They're creating a good buzz because they'd fill you with confidence and they're there to help you if you've any questions. There's a lot of older lads in the panel too who are great at filling the younger lads with confidence.”
The experience of veterans like Seamus Callanan, Padraic Maher, Noel McGrath, Patrick Maher, Brendan Maher, and James Barry should certainly be an invaluable resource for the new faces that Liam Sheedy has brought into the panel this year.
The only danger when you have such a relatively large cohort of long-serving players in a dressing-room is that their more callow team-mates defer to them too much and expect them to show the way all the time.
Those same players who are veterans now were also some of the biggest leaders in the Tipp team when they won the 2010 All-Ireland Final under Sheedy, and he has made it clear to the younger players in his current panel that they’ll also have to stand on their own two feet.
“There's been a good bit of emphasis put on that this year - that everybody can be a leader in our team,” said Maher. “I think there is a lot of leaders in our team.
“We know the older lads are leaders within the dressing-room when it comes to talking and massive leaders on the field too.
“But there are other lads you mightn't see as much who are also driving it so hard within the set-up.
“You would put that emphasis on yourself a bit more to lead by example after being there for the last few years and try to set standards within training and within the dressing-room.
“I suppose that's what we've been trying to do over the last few weeks, set a real high standard for training and stuff like that and set a high bar within the League to ensure we are improving all the time so come the Championship it will be a high standard.
“That's what's needed to go on and win a Munster Final and, please God, an All-Ireland Final."
